LI YUAN HUNG'S AMBITIONS FOR THE NEW CHINA
"We will have no further Manchu rule.
"China must be a Republic founded on lines laid down by the
United States of America. The United States of China must be
opened up with all speed, and for this purpose there must be a
combined effort made with Chinese and foreign capital and Chinese
and foreign labour.
"Confucianism will probably become the national religion, but I
personally favour the doctrine of Christianity being proclaimed
far and wide in China, and of encouraging missionaries to come in
greater numbers to our country.
"I am desirous that the form of government, after the Manchu rule
is abolished, shall not alter very greatly, so that there shall
be no disruption of trade and commerce and of diplomatic
connections of China in the Empire and in foreign countries."
This practically covers the main statement made to myself on Monday,
November 20, 1911, by General Li Yuan Hung, leader of the Revolution
of China. My privilege of interviewing the General was exclusive. I
was given a special pass, and was granted the privilege of going
where I liked in Wuchang, the city where the Revolution broke out,
and doing almost as I pleased, being the first to secure exclusive
conversation with his Excellency since the Revolution had begun.
China's Revolution is one of the most thrilling epochs in the world's
history. Had there been no Li Yuan Hung, whose name to-day, is known
in civilisation everywhere, there would probably have been no
Revolution. History may prove Li Yuan Hung {34} to be the greatest
reformer China has given to the world. To his remarkably sound
administration and his clean example to the people he was leading are
due the changes that have so speedily ushered the New China to full
prominence on the political stage of the East and the West. To rise
from total obscurity in the life of a nation to the highest point of
political fame is rarely given to any man. To change the whole
tendencies of the national life of a people is rarely given to one
man. But no one man ever in history was able to mould anew the
social and political outlook of a quarter of the whole human race, as
did Li Yuan Hung when he led the Chinese Revolution. He proved
himself a man unique in the eyes of the world, the most effective
reformer of his generation of any country.
On the day that I set out to have my talk with Li Yuan Hung, Wuchang,
the capital city, of Hupeh, which had revolted to a man, bore every
evidence of victory; and despite the minor reverses that the
Republican Army had for several days been suffering in their
encounters with the Imperial Army, sent down from Peking under
General Yin Chang to quell the rebellion, I found that in the city
there was infinitely greater hope among the people and infinitely
stronger confidence in their leader than in the early days of the
Revolution. One felt that he was touching the bedrock of humanity,
had come into grips with a people who with one set purpose were going
forward day by day to accomplish the true work of winning back China
for the Chinese. As one passed through the streets, around the
forts, in and out among the men who were with their lives prepared to
buy freedom for Manchu-ridden China, one realised that this part of
the Chinese nation, hitherto as silent as some great sleeping
monster, had suddenly found its voice, and had set out determinedly
to tell the world what it meant to do. Around one was waging civil
war that was to decide the enormous {35} stakes. There had been many
civil wars in the world before--Wars of the Roses and many others
which had had their historical significance--but as one seemed to
gaze out upon a great country like China and a people who go to make
up one-fourth of the human race, slowly was the fact borne in upon
one's mind that this civil war had a significance that perhaps
belonged to none other. It seemed like a war of belief against
unbelief. One felt that he had met men who were concerned only with
the real essence of justice and reform which were to regulate the
deep-reaching interests of four hundred millions of men--one must be
understood as talking about the leaders more particularly. And this
is the most real thing about this people's Revolution--the making of
order and right government. General Li Yuan Hung seemed to be a
great national carpenter, taking now the rough trees, shaping them
into purpose and real use. This was my first impression of the man,
for by his extreme calmness, his practical insight into things--it
was almost impossible to conceive a mere military man capable of such
patience in the midst of extreme mental and physical strain--he was
showing the world that he was a leader born. General Li was a man of
perhaps forty-eight, at first sight giving the impression that he had
developed as an altogether brave and quiet man. As I conversed with
him I could not help noticing again and again the decisive, practical
eye of this leader of the people, how he drove immediately towards
the practical, and had a genuine insight into what was fact and right
and truth. He had an eye to see and a heart to dare. His nature was
strong rather than intense, with his utterances full of sincerity and
of substance.
[Illustration: THE PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLY HALL, WUCHANG. Where General
Li had his headquarters until after the fall of Hanyang.]
I went direct to the Assembly Hall, where the guard received me and
where my foreign visiting-card was taken first to the Foreign Office,
while I was marched to a waiting-room. Around the building there was
a flutter of official life, for from that building the whole {36}
channel of China's history was being changed. Here there were no
tremulous, hesitating, half-hearted men; all was life. Each man,
from the usual underlings who hung about the doorways to the lowest
soldier on guard, from the lowest clerk on the General staff to the
General himself--all men went about their business with a fixity of
purpose that was new to China. There was no disorganisation. All
was quiet and smoothly running. The new Republican flag from many
towers waved triumphantly in the morning wind. On the drill-ground
outside one could hear the blowing of bugles and the clatter of arms
as the regiments were being drilled. Away down in the town, on one,
two, a dozen, twenty pieces of open ground recruits were being licked
into shape. Over on the hills could be heard the blast of cannon and
field-pieces from all directions. The slight whistle of a shell
dropping through the air told one that bombarding from both sides was
going on apace. But in the General's hall no evidence other than the
running hither and thither of dispatch-runners could be seen that war
was waging all around one. No one could listen to General Li Yuan
Hung without developing a great trust in the man. Sometimes his face
lit up with radiance bred only of devout determination, and he had
all along succeeded in infusing that spirit into all the people of
the city in which he had been so long an ordinary military officer.
My reader should not, however, understand me to mean, in my
description of the scene where the Revolution broke out, that a China
freed from all corruption and all the usual Chinese incongruities and
official twistings had suddenly come into being. Any one who has
followed my writings on China generally would, were this the case,
accuse me of the greatest inconsistency. But during those early days
of the Revolution we certainly saw a Chinese official life we had
never seen before. Li's court was at that time the cleanest and the
most hard-working and practical that had been {37} seen at any time
in China's history. That it was not perfect all those who looked on
were quite aware, but it was vastly ahead of the general run of
Chinese civic life.
Soon there came to the waiting-room a smart young officer, wearing
foreign spectacles, in a uniform that had a peculiar mingling of
foreign military and civic dress. He saluted, then bade me follow
him. His business was to show me to the Foreign Office. Here I
decided to make an instant objection, being content with nothing less
than an interview with Li Yuan Hung. So that when, having arrived
inside a large room at the end of the veranda of the second story of
the rectangular building, a rather stout Chinese gentleman in
military undress accosted me, I explained that I had already made
arrangements for an interview with General Li, that I would be
obliged if the proper wheels of office could be set in motion to
allow me to see him, and that as soon as possible. Just at this
point the Chinese in military undress smiled, and quietly said, "Yes,
I am General Li."
Addressing me in English, the General, with gentle Chinese suavity,
told me that his time was at my disposal; that with only an imperfect
hold upon my honourable language he would probably find some
difficulty in telling me accurately what was in his mind, but that
whatever question I put to him he would do his best to answer. Li
Yuan Hung was a handsome Chinese gentleman--about five feet three or
four, queueless, with close-cropped, bristly black hair, eyes
somewhat close set, which at times shone with extraordinary fire, and
a chin that immediately gave evidence of an infinite determination;
were it not for his military bearing, he might readily have been
taken for a prosperous Chinese merchant. He was keen, a leader of
men who did not hesitate a moment. So utterly unlike the ordinary
Chinese official, who leaves the vital points of an interview until
he rises to take his {38} leave, General Li, with eyes beaming, and
slightly raising his hand in his enthusiasm, exclaimed: "Yes, now we
have thirteen out of the eighteen provinces, and our Republican party
is formidable.[1] We have gathered under our new flag many more
provinces in a much shorter time than we had hoped for, an evidence
that China was waiting for the step to be taken to overthrow the
Manchus."
"Why, General Li, did the Revolution break out? Can you tell me
briefly the specific reason you assign for the outbreak to have taken
place so suddenly?"
He smiled slightly as he looked me straightforwardly in the eyes.
"Well, throughout our Empire there had been for years the feeling
that the Manchus would never give us Chinese any justice. They were
pressing us down, and although the Revolution took place sooner than
anticipated, all Chinese knew that it was coming sooner or later. I
personally had formulated no great scheme to take the lead. As a
matter of fact, although I knew all that was going on in the Hupeh
Model Army, I had no intention of taking the lead, nor of occupying
the position in which you find me to-day. The time planned for the
Revolution would probably have been later. China was waiting for the
man to rise up who would strike. None of the leaders of the
Revolution--of our new Republic--were anxious that there should be
great slaughter--the only wish was that the Manchu rule should be
abolished for ever. And since I have been the leader of the Republic
I have done my best that as little loss of life as possible might be
incurred."
"Are you quite sure that the Revolution will be permanently
successful, that all China will become loyal to the Republican flag?"
"Loyal!" exclaimed Li, with the joviality of a boy, {39} then his
face was closer knit again. "There is no doubt whatever. We have
thirteen provinces, with the armies of all those provinces; we have
the Chinese Navy, part at Hankow, part at Nanking,[2] sent there to
aid in the attack, and part at Shanghai. We control the Yangtsze."
But the General dismissed the question of loyalty to the Republic as
not being worthy of notice, adding that it was merely a matter of
time for China to be knit together with a great overpoweringly strong
patriotism which would have no equal in the Eastern or Western world.
Then he continued: "My personal desire would be to see every province
a free province, with its own Assembly, but controlled by one great
national governmental body. We shall take our pattern from the
United States of America, having a President to control our
provincial assemblies--just like America," he added curtly.
"How often would you elect a President? In China, unopened as it is,
with no communication, do you not think it would be more difficult to
organise elections and matters of a national character than it is in
the States?" I asked.
"Every four, five, six, or even ten years. Our President, if we got
the right man, might be in office for ten years for that matter. At
all events, this is my personal opinion, but this, with many other
matters, would come up for decision at the first assembly, and it is
my desire not unduly to influence that body."
"Who do you think you would ask to become the President--Yuan Shih
K'ai perhaps?" I asked.
"Ah, no," came the quick rejoinder. For some considerable time Li
Yuan Hung had been endeavouring to persuade Yuan Shih K'ai to come
over to the Revolutionary party and assume control of the formation
of {40} the Republic; but his efforts had met only with a stubborn
refusal by Yuan. "We must push out the Manchus. Yuan Shih K'ai will
not, I believe, become our President."
His Excellency stopped talking at this point, and I waited in vain to
hear more about Yuan. After a moment I suggested: "But Yuan Shih
K'ai is one of your great friends, is he not?"
"No, I do not call Yuan Shih K'ai a friend. He is known to me
personally, but I do not know much about him or of the ambition he
now has with China. You see, he will not listen to me."
"True, but the foreign newspapers are saying that Yuan Shih K'ai,
because he is your personal friend, will become the first President."
"Are they? I did not know. Well, perhaps Yuan Shih K'ai would rise
very high in the Republican party, but he has shown his determination
merely to sit on the fence waiting for the result." And General Li
held up his hands and rocked to and fro in his chair to make his
meaning clear.
"Who are your political associates at this time?"
His Excellency, at first not seeming to understand my meaning, said
that he had none, but afterwards told me that his _great_ friend was
Admiral Sah. The subsequent references which he made to the Admiral
were touching. "He is my _teacher_!" he affectionately exclaimed.
"He is now gone to Shanghai, but after the fighting is over he will
come to advise the Republic on naval matters. Admiral Sah is a good
man, his heart is very warm." In further conversation General Li
declared that they had now the strongest men in the country, and the
men who had not turned were hardly worth the having. He paid
eulogistic references to the statesmanship of Wu Ting Fang, several
of the Ministers of the old Government, whom he hoped to retain in
office, and to Sun Yat Sen especially.
Continuing, the General said his idea was that China's {41} foreign
representatives should be retained, and that in no way was he
desirous of altering the representation anywhere, in China or out of
it, if officials were willing to serve--granted, of course, that
their retention in office gave satisfaction and they were returned by
public vote. "We wish to retain all who will work conscientiously
for China's welfare, so that there shall be no disruption of trade
and commerce or of China's diplomatic connections all over the world.
Roughly, the scheme that I should favour would be:--
"1. Expulsion of the Manchus outside the Great Wall to Mongolia
(excepting those who are willing to join the Republican party).
"2. Establishment of a Republic on lines after the style of America,
with exclusive government for each State and one great National
Assembly.
"With these points decided, we shall be able to call together all
popular reformers from all the provinces and form our Government.
But this will be the time that I shall resign."
At this juncture of the conversation the General looked wistfully out
of the window, speaking almost to himself. By then, he said, he
should have accomplished his part for the winning of China back into
the hands of her own people, and he should throw the cloak of control
on to other shoulders. His quiet, unostentatious manner as he
proceeded humbly to compare his own powers with other men in China
showed a spirit of true greatness. Here was the hero of China, the
man above all men who had guided her public life into safe channels
and upon whom the eyes of the diplomatic, social, and political world
were riveted--and he was talking of giving way to better men.
Presently, as if coming out of a reverie, he turned towards me again,
smiling heartily, as I suggested that that would probably not be
allowed. But he was determined.
"No, there can be no place for me; I am a military {42} man, but
China has many better administrators. We have plenty of men." And
then he added, as an afterthought, "Of course, if they want me, they
can always have me." And he smacked the table as if he had joked
unconsciously.
And although I tried to impress upon his Excellency the fact that had
there been no General Li there would probably have been no such
success as was attending the Revolution, he would have none of it.
He preferred to wander on in confidential tones, telling me that his
personal wishes were not to be taken into account at all. What he
personally was anxious to do was to control the initial stages of
winning over the country; then his part was the planning of the
defences and the organisation of the military; after that whatever
the new Government wished him to do he would endeavour faithfully to
carry out, not for his own sake but for the sake of the country of
which he was proud and which he loved.
He did not seem inclined to enter into conversation much about the
monarchical style of government which many declare more favourable to
China as a country which had always looked to one head, the Emperor,
as the Son of Heaven. Referring to England and comparing that
country with the United States, Li Yuan Hung said that the style of
the Monarchical Government of England was best for her people, but he
did not believe it to be the best for the Chinese; and now that China
was breaking away from all old systems and customs he thought the
Republican control better suited to China's needs. In the course of
conversation I attempted to raise several questions which would
probably go against the establishing of a Republic when the Senate
met, but General Li did not pursue the conversation, and seemed
disinclined to talk until I mentioned the religion of the country,
quoting the annual Sacrifice at the Temple of Heaven--how would that
be carried out? Then again his eyes shone. He came {43} closer to
me, raised his hand a little as if to convince me in what he was
going to say, and spoke slowly:--
"All sacrifices will probably be stopped, but the religion of the
people will be Confucianism."
"But Confucianism is not a religion. Do you not think, General Li,
that Christianity will become more popular among the people as the
country is opened up more?"
"Oh, yes, missionaries are our friends. Jesus is better than
Confucius, and I am strongly in favour of more missionaries coming to
China to teach Christianity and going to interior provinces. We
shall do all we can to assist missionaries, and the more missionaries
we get to come to China the greater will the Republican Government be
pleased."
The General then went on in very simple language to say that he was
personally very pleased with all the labours of the missionaries, and
that China would not be to-day were it not for the missionaries, who
had gone into out-of-the-way places and opened up the country.
"But as a matter of fact we feel that we want as many foreigners to
come to China as possible. The opening up of the country can only
properly be accomplished by the united efforts of Chinese and
foreigners, and in this new Republic we realise that it is only by
mingling more freely with the other nations of the world that China
will have her resources developed. Of our military and navy, our
defences, our schools and colleges I have no fear, but one of the
most important items in our Republican programme is that which will
enable us to develop our wealth."
"Well, will you be in favour of granting concessions to foreign
syndicates for the development of mines and so on?"
"I do not think so. It is impossible for me to say what will be
done, but my personal wish would be freely to combine foreign capital
with Chinese capital {44} and labour." But the General, at this
moment turning abruptly towards a staff officer who brought him a
dispatch from the battlefield, announced, "But we shall have foreign
advisers, and all such matters as this would be decided later." And
he added forcefully, "We must consolidate the whole of China--that is
the main thing."
"You spoke of foreign loans just now. There will be need for foreign
loans now more than ever?"
"Yes, we shall need more foreign money and more foreigners in the
employ of our Republican Government; but my party is convinced that
there will be no difficulty in getting all the assistance, financial
and otherwise, from the Powers. Already America has telegraphed her
good wishes, and the time will come when the two greatest republics
in the world will be on the most friendly footing--probably China
will drift more towards America and learn more from her than from any
other country."
"As regards business, do you think that Hankow will benefit in trade
from the Revolution?"
The General pondered for a moment, thoughtfully putting his thumb and
finger to his chin. He hesitated briefly, then declared straight out
that he thought Hankow would become, perhaps, the biggest city in
Asia.
In concluding our conversation, Li Yuan Hung told me that he had been
to Japan for one year only, that he had five children (two boys and
three girls), that he was a native of Hwangpi in Hupeh, and that when
his children were old enough he would send them away for their
education.
"Where to?"
"To America," came the reply, and a happy smile with it. After
wishing me goodbye, General Li, still holding my hand, said:--
"One word more before you go." He placed his left hand on my
shoulder, bent his body slightly towards {45} me. "Please do not
forget to say that this Revolution took place because the Manchus
were so unfair to the Chinese--for no other reason."
He then bade me farewell, and I departed.
* * * * *
This interview is given _in extenso_ because of its vital bearing
upon the general attitude of the Republican party at the present
moment. Events have transpired slightly to throw some of Li Yuan
Hung's ambitions to the ground, but the views he held may be taken as
the general aims of the party that is headed by Sun Yat Sen to-day.
As my manuscript goes forward to the publishers it is a matter of
impossibility accurately to predict what the outcome of China's
Revolution will be. It may be a Republic; it may be a Monarchy. Be
the form of government what it may, however, there will remain in the
eyes of every patriotic Chinese but one General Li, and his views on
the political situation and the needs of his great country, at the
time when her national pendulum tremulously ticked out issues of the
highest import, will have a permanent interest for all students of
affairs in China.[3]
{46}
[1] This was only a month after the Revolution had broken out. The
reader will learn later on in this volume of the changes following
along in the ensuing months.
[2] Nanking, the city now planned by the Republican party as the
capital, after a most stubborn resistance, fell to the Revolutionary
Army a fortnight afterwards.
[3] Li Yuan Hung at the time of the Revolution was forty-eight years
old. His birthplace was a village in the north of Huangpi, not many
miles from the scenes that made him famous. "Li Yuan Hung" was his
official name; his friends were permitted to address him as "Li Sung
Ching." His father was a soldier before him--Colonel Li Tsao Hsiang.
In the year 1882, at the age of eighteen, Li the younger passed the
entrance examination of the Tientsin Naval College, and after a
course of six years he graduated. Soon after the war with Japan he
was engaged by Chang Chih Tung, then Viceroy of Nanking, to fortify
that city with modern guns, and was also made commander of an
important pass near Nanking. In the year 1894 he followed Chang Chih
Tung to Hupeh, and was commissioned to train the new army with the
aid of a German instructor for three years. He was then sent to
Japan to gain experience in defence work. After two years he
returned to Wuchang, and was appointed Major of a Cavalry Brigade.
In 1902 he was in command of the Kiangyin Navy and Army manoeuvres.
Next year he took command of the Infantry Fourth Advance Guard. Two
years later he became commander of the Second Division. As soon as
the new army was organised he was promoted to be Colonel of the 21st
Mixed Brigade, superintending the naval forces in the Yangtze Valley,
the Military Academy and four departments of the Hanyang Arsenal, and
the Army College. In the same year (1905) he was elected Provisional
Commander of the Changte manoeuvres. He led his Mixed Brigade in the
year 1911 to join the Autumn Manoeuvres at Taihu. On October 10,
1911, General Li joined the Revolution, as will be seen hereafter,
and was elected Military Governor of Hupeh.
{47}